Upgrading my rig, need help!

mattavich

mattavich

mattavich

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Joined
16 Aug 2009
Posts
94
This is my current setup

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.2GHZ
CPU Cooler - Big Typhoon 120 VX
Motherboard - GA-EP45-UD3LR
PSU - OcUK 650W Dual-Rail High Efficiency Power Supply
RAM - Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel
Graphics card - Gainward GTX 260 @ 725mhz
Display - 22" Samsung SM2233RZ LCD 120hz + 3D Vision
Sound Card - ASUS Xonar DS 7.1
2GB Readyboost USB Flash Drive
Hard Drive - Samsung 750GB
Logitch G9 Gaming mouse and Razer Destructor Mousepad

Not the most expensive or up to date but it actually runs extremely well. I can play any game and max most of them.

However, I want to upgrade.

CPU - Motherboard - my motherboard is still quite new so i'm thinking of simply getting a Q9650 and OCing to 4ghz rather than getting an i7. I don't know much about i7s so I don't know which cpu is best or which motherboard is best or even if the motherboard would fit my case!

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-231-IN

If someone could tell me if it is worth getting the Q9650 or if I can get an i7/motherboard which fits my case and will outperforms it that would be excellent!

Graphics card I want to upgrade but I want to get somethign that's not too expensive yet will last me a long time and perform extremely well. I've gone for the

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-142-GW

What do you think? There should be no power issues should there?

Lastly i'm going to get another 4gb of kingston.

Really would appreciate some help on the cpu issue. I'm confused as what will be best to do.
 
Whilst going to a Q9650 will be convenient, it still amazes me how much these things still cost and to be perfectly frank if you are considering buying one of those then now is the time to upgrade to something else. For less money, and I mean way less you could have a sandybridge i5 2500k which would trounce both the Q9650 and anything that the i7 1366's have to offer. Have a read here to get up to speed on what i'm talking about.

The PSU you have will be fine for the video card you are looking at too.

I would consider selling on your board/chip/ram - offer your mates an upgrade etc and grab some sandybridge kit, make sure it a 'k' series as the others are not overclockable.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
cpu upgrade - pointless
ram upgrade - pointless.
Click to expand...

said the bloke with 4gb and a 6600 lol:D

Just remember there are very few on here that upgrade because they have to;)

Also the stuff you have still has some grunt and will bring a nice return when you sell it on as a result of that, minimising your outlay to something that kicks it's butt.
 
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Thanks guys, taking everything into consideration.

Liquid, I don't mind splashing out more on an i7 if ti is a core that seriously kicks a Q6950's arse. What would you recommend for that? It doesn't seem oc.co.uk has an i7 2500k available.

Moreover, what about a motherboard?
 
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By the way, the 2500 is overclockable - 3.8GHZ to 4 cores and 4.2GHZ to 1 core. However the 2500k is indeed the better choice.

I would get the 2500k and the GTX570, or the ATI6950 and then unlock. Upgrading the ram wouldn't hurt either. Depends how much do you want to spend in total?
 
mattavich said:
I would be prepared to go for the i7 2600k http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-358-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1859

As long as I know what motherboard would suit it.

I also assume I would need new ram DDR3 and a new cooler?
Click to expand...


There are currently two variations - an i5 2500k and an i7 2600k. The i7 has bit more stock speed and hyperthreading and it is the one I got too.

An overclocked i7 2600k pretty much destroys anything out there including the hex core i7's as the link to the sandybridge review demonstrated. I have mine running at 4.9ghz 24/7 configuration and it flies.

Board wise there are quite a few options. I went for an MSI P67A-GD65 which I am over the moon with, avoided the asus models because of issues cited around here(that's not to say they arent good boards though).

You will need ram but it is not expensive, 4gb 1600mhz corasir xms for around £40 and 8gb 1600mhz around £80.

The cooler you have will work fine with socket 1155 cpu's anyway and will need configuring like the 1156 socket fitment. It will get you running nicely for sure.
 
pv123 said:
Yep, was going to link thos barebones, and they have warranty on overclocks if I'm not mistaken.
Click to expand...


If you can build it yourself do so, it will be cheaper. You are not going to have warranty issues if you overclock either so dont be concerned - there is no way the supplier can tell what you ran the cpu at anyway.
 
pv123 said:
By the way, the 2500 is overclockable - 3.8GHZ to 4 cores and 4.2GHZ to 1 core.
Click to expand...


the only way to overclock a non 'k' series cpu is to raise bclk above the standard 100, and if you had read around here, it's a complete no no and responsible for chip failures.

So, I would have to say no, non 'k' cpu's are not overclockable, not if you want them to work for a long period of time;)

and while I remember, you are looking for a P67 chipset motherboard.
 
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+ one for an upgrade to the i5 2600K.

I have one running at 4.6Ghz no worries with 8Gb of the Corsair XMS3 1600Mhz RAM.

I went for a MSI GTX460 HAWK GPU and have it nicely OC'd at 920Mhz Core & 1840Mhz Shader.

It all runs super smooth now after a BIOS update and plays all the games I use at max.

Regards,

Simpic
 
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